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"Carmen Lopez, Executive Director of College Horizons, a non-profit dedicated to college success of Native American and Native Hawaiian students, believes this is especially true for students served by her program. "As a community-based organization that services underrepresented students, College Horizons has found the Common App's new essay prompts to be highly effective. Students are presenting themselves as multi-dimensional, writing with an authentic voice, and writing meaningfully as both students and Native students."'

The quote comes from yesterday's Common Application press release regarding a decision to retain the current essay prompts found on the 2013-2014 version of the college application form for 2014-2015. The Common Application is a non-profit organization that provides a consolidated application for students and educators to use when applying to any of the organization's 500+ member colleges. The vast majority of institutions that College Horizons currently partners with use the Common Application in their undergraduate admissions. College Horizons also utilizes the Common App as a curriculum tool when preparing high school students for the college admissions process.

The essay prompts are provided below:

Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?

Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea.What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?

Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?

Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.